Merger of French Institutions of agriculture and environment research: IRSTEA and INRA
As of January 1, 2020, IRSTEA (Institut national de Recherche en Sciences et Technologies pour l’Environnement et l’Agriculture) and INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique) will merge to become INRAE, Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement. INRA employs about 8400 people and IRSTEA about 1500.
Decrees N°2019-1045 and N°2019-1046 establishing INRAE were published on 12 October in the French Official Gazette.
The objective of this new establishment is to become one of the world’s leading public research institutions in the fields of agriculture, food and the environment.
Climate change, the erosion of biodiversity, environmental degradation, pollution and the depletion of fossil resources represent challenges that must be met by bringing about transformations in agriculture, food and the environment.
This transition must evolve towards low-carbon and circular agriculture, healthy and sustainable food, adaptive resource management, concerned with environmental preservation and risk management.
The complementary areas of expertise of IRSTEA and INRA will make it possible to create excellent research to meet these societal challenges.
